Serving and Leadership

“What if you could make a world-changing impact with one small act? Would you be more inclined to take that first step if you knew your action would gain momentum when aligned with the actions of others?”

 

It might seem daunting for an individual to make big changes in society, but taking that first step can set into motion a series of events culminating in a big result.

Entrepreneur Herb Morreale (CompSci ’91) has distilled all his thoughts and ideas about how individuals can make an impact for the greater good into what he calls his “domino theory.”

As dominos placed on end knock each other in succession, all of the dominos fall due to the energy transferred by each impact. Like tipping over that first domino, one small act can set into motion a series of events that expands out into the world. Examples can be found throughout history. Rosa Parks struck a blow for civil rights when she refused to give up her seat on the bus. A Chinese student stood alone in Tiananmen Square to block military tanks in support of democratic reform. With a swing of a hammer, the Berlin Wall came down.

“I had been thinking about this for quite awhile and trying to understand the patterns of setting things into motion,” says Morreale. “One of the patterns starts with something inspirational. You have to inspire people. It’s in that inspiration that they will feel it here, in their chest. That gives them the motivation to do whatever the next step is.”

To illustrate the power of this process, he says it is possible in a topple of only a few dominoes to knock down a final domino that is many t

Via Sakis Koukouvis